So we've all more or less agreed that scoring is our team's major deficency. Say money is no object (And considering we can drop a stack of players and trade others off for picks, that may be more true than we realize; dropping say, Halak alone frees up 4m, not resigning AMac, etc.) who would you go after to sign?

What I'd like to see is that we pick up someone not past their prime or at that point in their career where their numbers start dropping but also not someone who just started to catch fire without enough of a track record to establish consistency and stability.

With our performance in the playoffs and what we showed, I think we will get a few knocks on our door from players who feel our time has come to take the next step. This isn't our dad's Blues team, this is one that can play physical and has some good depth and even though we didn't take LA, we did play superior hockey and we did leave what we had to offer on the ice, which had to impress others. I know it impressed me.

I think a one-year contract for someone like Martin St. Louis would be a good deal and may be the setup man we need for players like Schwartz, Frank and (hopefully) Rattie. I mention him because he'd be the guy I'd sign to replace AMac.

Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Franking) defense you overrated hack!)

sseagle wrote:Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got Wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Frank) defense you overrated hack!)

1. Mike Keenan was coach and really why he didn't stick around for long. That ALONE should table that argument, but since we're off and running:2. Gretz played 18 games for us, 8 Goals, 13 Assists WITH 2 Goals and 14 assists in the playoffs. Add insult to injury, right after that he posted 25 Goals, 72 Assists with the Rangers AND 10 Goals, 10 Assists in the playoffs for them.

Iggy you can keep. Gretz, I wish we could have kept, even if it would have been for two more years, might have made a big difference for us.

sseagle wrote:Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got Wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Frank) defense you overrated hack!)

1. Mike Keenan was coach and really why he didn't stick around for long. That ALONE should table that argument, but since we're off and running:2. Gretz played 18 games for us, 8 Goals, 13 Assists WITH 2 Goals and 14 assists in the playoffs. Add insult to injury, right after that he posted 25 Goals, 72 Assists with the Rangers AND 10 Goals, 10 Assists in the playoffs for them.

Iggy you can keep. Gretz, I wish we could have kept, even if it would have been for two more years, might have made a big difference for us.

Yeah another year would have been great... we could get blasted in triple overtime to the blackhawks when the 'great fraud' decided he didn't have to play defense anymore

sseagle wrote:Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got Wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Frank) defense you overrated hack!)

1. Mike Keenan was coach and really why he didn't stick around for long. That ALONE should table that argument, but since we're off and running:2. Gretz played 18 games for us, 8 Goals, 13 Assists WITH 2 Goals and 14 assists in the playoffs. Add insult to injury, right after that he posted 25 Goals, 72 Assists with the Rangers AND 10 Goals, 10 Assists in the playoffs for them.

Iggy you can keep. Gretz, I wish we could have kept, even if it would have been for two more years, might have made a big difference for us.

Yeah another year would have been great... we could get blasted in triple overtime to the blackhawks when the 'great fraud' decided he didn't have to play defense anymore

sseagle wrote:Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got Wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Frank) defense you overrated hack!)

1. Mike Keenan was coach and really why he didn't stick around for long. That ALONE should table that argument, but since we're off and running:2. Gretz played 18 games for us, 8 Goals, 13 Assists WITH 2 Goals and 14 assists in the playoffs. Add insult to injury, right after that he posted 25 Goals, 72 Assists with the Rangers AND 10 Goals, 10 Assists in the playoffs for them.

Iggy you can keep. Gretz, I wish we could have kept, even if it would have been for two more years, might have made a big difference for us.

Yeah another year would have been great... we could get blasted in triple overtime to the blackhawks when the 'great fraud' decided he didn't have to play defense anymore

sseagle wrote:Lets blow a shit ton of cash that we don't have to spend, getting some old guy that used to be good, like when we got Wayne Gretzky, remember how awesome and helpful he was??! (Play some (Frank) defense you overrated hack!)

1. Mike Keenan was coach and really why he didn't stick around for long. That ALONE should table that argument, but since we're off and running:2. Gretz played 18 games for us, 8 Goals, 13 Assists WITH 2 Goals and 14 assists in the playoffs. Add insult to injury, right after that he posted 25 Goals, 72 Assists with the Rangers AND 10 Goals, 10 Assists in the playoffs for them.

Iggy you can keep. Gretz, I wish we could have kept, even if it would have been for two more years, might have made a big difference for us.

Gretzky was one of the ones directly responsible for us losing to Detroit in 2OT in game 7. Flippin' lazy one handed play at center ice and he had the puck stolen from him by Yzerman. I'll always be bitter about that.

I forget the details, but had we signed him, it would have cost us other players in that we couldn't have signed them. I remember thinking a few years down the road, "Thank God we didn't sign Gretzky."

Gretzky was a huge baby about the whole thing with Keenan. Keenan was partially correct, Gretzky hadn't played well, and Keenan called him out. Granted, he could have been more tactful about it...but still. You're a grown man...don't get all butt hurt, just suck it up and play better.

The sad thing about the whole Gretzky fiasco was that the Rangers had been pursuing him as well but they couldn't come to terms on an extension for 99, among a few other snags, so Mike Keenan swooped in and snatched him away, which was viewed as a big fat F.U. to the Rangers who obviously had a very public beef with Keenan after the way he exited following their cup year in 1994. So when it looked like he'd gotten the better of his former employer, he had his spat with Gretzky concerning his play specifically in that game, Gretzky left for the Rangers, ultimately giving them the last laugh over Keenan, and the Blues, once again, got screwed at the hands of an eastern conference team.

I find it very hard to believe that Gretzky's defensive brainfart was really worthy of the treatment he got following that. Who's to say we wouldn't have seen them win a cup or two if he'd stayed on a contract extension to finish off his career?

Toasted Oates wrote:Please tell me more about a Marty StL signing. I thought he had a couple more yrs on his contract, but you may know something I don't.

I'm inclined to agree with Glen. If anything happens it'd be through a trade.

I must have been reading old news, then. My bad. I wouldn't be against making Tampa a trade partner and bring him on board in a similar way that we brought Jay Bo on board (trade off Perron and Stew or make something work and eat a part of the contract if necessary). We have enough players to make at least one serious trade without having to sacrifice D. Netminding alone we have enough prospects and starters (And Halak) that we could move someone and all it could do is help us at forward.

I'd taken Bickell or Dupuis if the owner would open up his check book a little bit. The Blues don't need D. They need guys who can support the young talent while also being 20-30 goal scorers themselves.

I seriously expect Jaskin, Rattie, and Tarasenko to be major players next season. The flaw with this is the current coaches over-reliance on veteran experience. No, I am not dogging Hitchcock's system. It can work to win a Cup. The issue is his unwillingness to rely on youth, even when the veteran talent is not up to the task. If the Blues could find the right assistant for Hitch to allow the youth to become more involved, the Blues could be a very good team. IMO, Coach Q learned in his time away from STL - don't bench young talent for making young talent mistakes. Yes, when it comes to the Conference Finals and a young D-man completely failing - he has to be benched. Not playing a young player in the regular season, when you burned an entire year of an entry contract for what - not even 5 minutes of ice time????? IMO - that is inexcusable. This is the current flaw in the organization.

1) We want to give the guy a taste of what the league is really like2) We are using up a year of an entry level contract and starting his clock right now!!!!! (This is important - Petro would have been an RFA last season had the Blues pulled the same one game crap they pulled with Schwartz and Jaskin).3) This forces the Blues hand in how they treat Jaskin and Schwartz. IMO, Shwartz proved himself over the last 1/4 of the regular season and seriously stood out with his effort in the playoffs. The kicker - he will be an RFA in 2014, instead of 2015 because the Blues played him in the 2012 regular season, yet never bothered to put him on the ice in the playoffs. That last part - look at Hitch's history with younger players. He did this BS to Schwartz. He did it again to Tarasenko. WTF???? Supposedly, Hitch has learned, but he has not learned enough to let younger players actually play, IMO. At least Ruff would let them play, based on what he did in Buffalo.

If there were some way to merge Ruff's willingness to let youth play and Hitch's defensive system, the Blues could become a powerhouse. Unfortunately, I doubt that will ever happen.

I seriously expect Jaskin, Rattie, and Tarasenko to be major players next season.

This, I believe, is our flaw as fans. We expect the guys who are supposed to score to actually score. That's what they drafted them for, right? But in Hitch's system, they can't and they won't. They'll be 15-20 goal scorers just like every other "goal scorer" on this team. Perron is supposed to be a goal scorer too, and he would be... on a different team or with a different coach. At the end of next season, we'll be scratching our heads trying to figure out why we're suffering through another painful postseason after what, on paper, looked like a very solid regular season, when all we have to do is look at the stats and see that not one of the guys who was expected to score goals actually scored goals at any sort of regular clip.

A. We have a ton of potential elite scorers being held back entirely by Hitchcock's system.

B. A group of average players who at times have moments of brilliance and excellence and Hitch, who has been beating a strong D ethic into their heads, has kept the games within one to two goals and well within reach of a win.

Which do YOU believe?

The problem is the Blues and Hitch are a players team, they do not demand the best out of these guys, they do not bench, bag skate, suspend, sit down, yell at or even glare intensely at players who don't have their act together. I am of the belief that if Ken Hitchcock can teach someone as egotistical and conceited as Brett Hull how to play D, he can teach anyone. I seriously don't think the problem is certain players buying into it as much as it's that we expect too much out of a player who, after all is said and done, is an average player; we cheer and yell when we got a 20 goal scorer, to us that's extrordinary but to a Cup Contender like Boston, Pittsburg, Rangers, etc. That's a 3rd line player.

That should tell the tale right there as to why they got Cups and we don't.